motivation monday

Hey friends! Happy Monday to you, in every possible way! I hope you enjoyed a fantastic weekend and have arrived at the top of this new work week brimming with energy, purpose, and all the good, strong resources you need. I hope today was wide open for you and that in turn you sucked all the marrow out of its bones.

#carpediem

For a while now, Mondays on the blog have been reserved for marathon talk. Or at least running reflections. But I have decided to open up the reach of “Marathon Monday” to include all kinds of motivation because, let’s face it, at least for yours truly marathon season is only about three months long, once or twice a year. But we need motivation all the time, right? Twelve out of twelve months, baby. We need motivation for health, fitness, finances, and all sorts of big, personal goals.

So… Welcome to Motivation Monday #1!

How things are going here, fitness-wise: I have very recently experienced a little slowing in my fitness progress. Nothing crazy. But it’s still a bit frustrating, especially after such a noticeable surge in health, speed, and leanness in those few weeks following the April race. These past couple of months I have just yo-yo’d more than is satisfying for me. Don’t you ever make a big, positive leap forward with something hard, get excited, then extrapolate that achievement in your mind, like, If I can lose this many pounds in three weeks, just imagine what I can do in three months! Or maybe, I saved this many extra dollars this month, so in a year I’ll most definitely have a small fortune! It’s not just me, right? I am easily motivated by success and tend to set unrealistic goals following a good little season. Which makes reality, when it is less than what you expect, kinda disappointing.

This current plateau, if that’s what it is, should honestly be chalked up to how thoroughly I am enjoying summertime. How many tortilla chip dinners and late night ice creams (have you ever had a pineapple vanilla sundae from Sonic?) and hot dogs poolside with visiting teenagers are being devoured. I am definitely in the camp of people who can eat healthfully and workout like a maniac over and over again, day after day, until a special occasion rolls around. Social gatherings and basically any really happy time is just a natural reason excuse for me to eat all the delicious, happy foods my mind and body love so much. So I’m an emotional eater, just only at happy times instead of stressful. Kinda makes the whole seek happiness thing a bit of a twisted message. (haha)

So that’s the bad-but-certainly-not-terrible news. I have compromised my own goal-reaching by too many high-calorie snacks. Probably means this isn’t a plateau, right? Probably means I am just just behaving somewhat badly.

Alongside this, though, is the good news: I have been exercising a lot and staying active and happy every day, trying new workout routines that include free weights, yoga, long HIIT videos like Jillian Michaels, tons of swimming, and more. Physically I feel great. I see improvements with strength, flexibility, all-day energy levels, etc. It’s just the actual pounds and certain vanity-appearance things that haven’t changed much. Apparently the fat I have left to lose is the hardest and slowest obstacle for women. Blah-blah-blah. Oh well.

My Plan: I talked all of this over with Handsome (he is not only my best friend; I also value his knowledge of physiology a lot) and did some reading about plateaus and calorie needs and overall nutrition. Long story short? I am going to keep with my fun exercise freedom, enjoying whatever my body craves from day to day, and not get stressed out about a laborious schedule because there’s plenty of time for that in the last leg of marathon training. And we’re still in summertime! I’ll also, though, finally mix in more long runs, something I have been missing since April. Endurance running is wonderful for shrinking oneself. And as I have said so many times, the depletion feels amazing mentally, too. Win-win. I’m also going to try different weight strategies for a few weeks, see how that feels, and (of course) indulge in fewer tortilla chips and pineapple sundaes.

(This last part will not be easy, so light candles for my skinny jeans.)

Attitude Adjustment: Really, I am so happy to be able to enjoy life in every way and still make tiny little bits of progress with my personal goals. It’s a pretty great balance, and I have to take a minute to acknowledge that these efforts are in fact working; they are just working at the same slow, easy pace that I am. (again with the haha) It’s not really time to get frustrated and radically change everything; it’s just time to keep going. Trust that with a little bit better effort, my path will get me where I want to go.

What about you? What goals are you striving to reach that maybe seem further away than you’d like? Is it possible you are making progress, be it ever so slow? Let me encourage you to keep at it, no matter what it is. Maybe reevaluate to make sure the goal is still worthy of your attention, still serving you, then reexamine your methods and take a deep breath. Start fresh or regather your energies and resources and just keep going. I bet you are getting there, slow though it may seem. Remember what you want most and keep a long view. Be patient, persistent, and positive.

Thanks for checking in, friends! See you soon for kitchen notes, farm updates, and more.

XOXOXOXO